Technological inventions, innovations, and advancements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, though have made our lives comfortable, but their usage have also resulted in grave ecological changes and environmental degradation which the humanity is faced with today. Excessive and unsustainable use of natural resources like forests, water, and extraction of various minerals and ores have left irreparable scars on the earth’s surface. Problem of environmental degradation has been further compounded by our never-ending quest for energy primarily obtained using fossil fuels and ever-increasing number of petroleum products dependent vehicles which emit large volumes of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, ozone, Nitrogen dioxide etc. resulting in global warming which is the prime cause of climate change being witnessed by all of us.
Climate change is impacting the lives of common people daily. This year excessive hot summer have been observed not only in India but, elsewhere as well. Europe is experiencing a very hot summer, and in many countries, temperatures have crossed 40 degrees mark. There are reports of drying of rivers in Hungary resulting in huge loss of agricultural crops. In our lifetime rainfall pattern appears to have changed drastically. Many places in Rajasthan such as Jodhpur, Bhilwara, Jaisalmer etc. are experiencing very heavy rains resulting in flood like situation. Ahmedabad witnessed a rainfall of more than 12 inches in a single day on July 12. In South Gujarat many towns and cities were inundated due to rains this year. Not only that, a trend of reduced rainy days but increased rainfall intensity has been observed in many parts of India in recent years. Fury of floods has also increased, especially in north-eastern region of the country.
Concomitant with the climate change is the increased loss of life due to increased occurrence of hydrometeorological disasters like floods, drought, and cyclones. Earlier, very few cyclones used to occur in the Arabian sea, however, the number and frequency seems to have increased recently. On an average 5-6 cyclones used to happen in most of the decades since the beginning of 19th century, however, in the period during 2010-2022 fifteen cyclones were reported. Earlier, the cyclonic activity in the Bay of Bengal used to be more, and western coast states used to experience fury of cyclone very less in comparison. This increased cyclonic activity in the Arabian Sea, and along the western coast of India is attributed to rise in sea surface temperature due to global warming by the scientists.
Biodiversity sustains life. Terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity is being lost at a very rapid pace thus reducing genetic pool of agricultural and horticultural crops. Biodiversity is also responsible for continued availability of ecosystem functions and services. Large scale deforestation, introduction of invasive species, and pollution are among the primary reasons for biodiversity loss in the terrestrial and aquatic environments. There is an urgent need to arrest loss of biodiversity at species, genetic and ecosystem levels.
Land degradation and desertification is another issue which has impacted productivity of various ecosystems. Soil health has deteriorated necessitating increasing use of fertilizers and irrigation. Area under dense forests, so necessary for protecting topsoil is on the decline though as per Forest Survey of India reports area under tree cover has increased in recent years. Forest degradation has also caused increased runoff and loss of fertile topsoil affecting productivity of land in a subtle way. Another major cause of land degradation is mining for coal and minerals. Large parcels of land are seen dug up deep in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and many other parts of India where mining activities are concentrated. Mining activities have resulted in pollution of underground aquifers pushing further the tribal population to abject poverty.
Health of our aquatic ecosystems, both fresh water and coastal is of major concern. Health of most of our inland wetlands is highly precarious. Wetlands are the kidneys of the landscape and have high biodiversity value. They also provide innumerable ecosystem services to us besides being important from cultural and aesthetic viewpoint as many of the wetlands such as the river Ganga, and Renuka lake are revered and worshipped by millions of Indians. Though there is some increase in the number of humans made wetlands since the first scientific inventory of wetlands in 1998 coordinated by the author at Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, nevertheless, there is a net loss of smaller wetlands especially in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Not only that, the health and ecological integrity of these wetlands has been on decline continuously. Many of these wetlands, especially the rivers are highly polluted and despite our best efforts have shown no signs of ecological recovery mainly due to reduced environmental flows and increased pollution load. Area under aquatic weeds infestation by water hyacinth and other invasive species has also shown to have increased during 2007-2017 in a study carried out by the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad.
Coastal wetlands such as mangroves, tidal flats, coral reefs are very important for protection of the shoreline and providing livelihood to the people dwelling nearby. Health of coral reefs has deteriorated in recent years due to global warming caused increased in sea surface temperatures and turbidity. There are reports of coral bleaching at many places in the Andaman Sea. Ugly sites due to plastic pollution is a common problem witnessed umpteen times on the beaches in the city of Mumbai indicative of man’s role in degradation of our coastal ecosystems. Due to global warming, there is a danger of submergence of many island nations and low-lying coastal regions.
Glaciers are receding and fragmenting at many places, especially in the Indian Himalayas, and in the arctic region. Studies done using satellite data have brought out vividly receding of Gangotri and many other glaciers in the Himalayan region. The primary cause of such a retreat has been attributed to global warming. Kedar Nath tragedy of 2013 is a case in example. Due to overflow of water from Chora Bari lake caused by excessive snowmelt in the high reaches there was huge loss of life and property in the region.
Air pollution is another major issue impacting our lives. In Delhi lung capacity of the children has considerably reduced and life of the people shortened by 5-10 years. Recent lockdown during COVI-19 has clearly brought out that mother earth is capable of healing itself. Improvement in the air quality was observed in most of major cities of the world including India during lockdown period. Time has come to switch over to alternate sources of energy for running the vehicles and reducing the number of vehicles depending on the carrying capacity of the roads.
Solid waste disposal is another serious environmental issue. Solid wastes comprise domestic, industrial, medical, and agricultural, and other hazardous wastes and its disposal is normally done at landfill sites. In recent years many entrepreneurs have developed techniques to use solid waste as a resource for manufacturing of shoes, tiles, tableware products etc. Agricultural waste from sugarcane is being converted into degradable bags.
Now, is there any solution to our environmental woes which we are facing? Scientists globally have realised the importance of restored ecosystems for obtaining continual services them, and also in disaster risk reduction. It is in this context; that the UN has declared 2021-2030 as decade of ecosystem restoration. Time has come to heal the earth. Fortunately, newer techniques involving satellite based remote sensing, and Geographical Information System (GIS) in conjunction with conventionally available information can help rehabilitation and restoration of our degraded ecosystems. As an individual we can also do our bit, by at least not adding to the woes of mother earth, if we must leave an earth worth living for our future generations.